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Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance
Matador Records
Discography
01/26 Laneway Festival, Auckland
Read More01/28 The Tivoli, Brisbane 01/29 Enmore Theatre, Sydney 01/31 Taronga Zoo, Sydney 02/01 Palais Theatre, Melbourne 02/03 Astor Theatre, Perth 02/12 AX Club, Seoul, Korea 02/16 Hostess Club Taipei @ Legacy 02/21 Hostess Club Weekender, Studio Coast 03/30 House Of Blues, Boston, MA 04/01 Massey Hall, Toronto, ONT 04/02 Royal Oak Music Theater, MI 04/03 Riviera, Chicago, IL 04/04 Madison, WI Overture Hall 04/07 Seattle, WA Paramount Ballroom 04/08 Vancouver, BC Vogue Theatre 04/09 Portland, OR Roseland 04/11 Coachella Valley Music 04/12 Berkeley, CA Greek Theatre 04/14 Davis, CA Mondavi Center 04/17 San Diego, CA North Park 04/18 Indio, CA Coachella Valley Music 05/03 St. David's, Cardiff, Wales 05/04 Colston Hall, Bristol 05/05 Guildhall, Portsmouth 05/07 Corn Exchange, Cambridge 05/08 Open, Norwich, England 05/10 Symphony Hall, Birmingham 05/11 Westminster Central Hall, London 05/14 Albert Hall, Manchester 05/16 City Hall, Newcastle 05/18 Opera House, Buxton 05/19 City Hall, Leeds 05/22 Hydro Arena, Glasgow 05/24 Sound City, Liverpool, England 06/09 Upper Darby, PA - Tower Theatre 06/10 New York, NY - Radio City Music Hall 06/11 Washington, DC - Echostage 06/14 Columbus, OH LC - Pavilion 06/17 Morrison, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheatre 06/18 Kansas City, MO - Uptown Theatre 07/02-07/04 ATP Iceland, Keflavik, Iceland
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Our favorite Scottish band Belle & Sebastian is releasing Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance tomorrow, January 20th, via Matador Records, their first new record since 2010's Write About Love.
Just to give you a little background on the band, they formed in the mid-90s and was one of the few bands that released original singles (songs that never made their way to an LP). I got into Belle & Sebastian a little late to the party with Lazy Line Painter Jane EP (1997), from an old MiniDisc mixtape, but what I heard, absolutely loved. I've mentioned it before, but back then, I've always thought they were a duo with a girl/boy singers. It wasn't until 1998's The Boy with the Arab Strap did I realize that it's a group (but then again, the band was quite secretive in the early days).
Anyway, while the lineup changed over time (losing bassist Stuart David and sugar sweet vocalist Isobel Campbell), the core of the band is really around singer and band leader Stuart Murdoch. Murdoch, in an interview about why the band took a hiatus post-2007, basically said that the record label (Jeepster) told them that the band could not grow their audience. They were forever going to be a 'cult' band and could not cross over to the mainstream. If you saw Murdoch's film God Help the Girl (2014), you know that the underlying message in that film is that it doesn't matter if you're going to be a massive hit... that they were just as happy writing music that they love.
That's the impression I got listening to their new album Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance. Belle & Sebastian are writing wonderful little songs that doesn't exactly fit into pop radio. For example, my favorite track, "Enter Sylvia Plath": lyrically a depressing song ("All the dreams, and guilt and loneliness, loneliness") but set to a disco-ish beat. They are comfortable writing songs for themselves, and they wouldn't change their music just to appeal to the masses.
One of the biggest criticism that I had for Belle & Sebastian was sometime they were a little too Christian (take "Jonathan David", "Act of the Apostle" - parts 1 and 2, "Take Your Carriage Clock and Shove It", and "Little Lou, Ugly Jack, Prophet John" for example). To be fair, Murdoch, for a time, lived in a Church and I know he's passionate about his religion... but I never understood or liked it. I'm happy to report that I didn't really detect any hints of religion in Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance.
As Murdoch once put it, they are "the republic of Belle & Sebastian", which meant that he doesn't write or sing on all the songs. Which I think is refreshing, as I do welcome other voices, such as Sarah Martin taking over on "The Power of Three" and "The Book of You" and Stevie Jackson on "Perfect Couples". They add variety to the usual cute orchestral pop songs that Murdoch tends to write.
Like Write About Love's album featuring a duet with Carey Mulligan on the title track, "Write About Love", we see a similar treatment with "Play for Today", which features Dum Dum Girls' Dee Dee Penny. The song "Play for Today" and "Today (This Army's for Peace)" fits in this theme of the modern age and we should make the most of it with peace, love, and harmony.
My only complaint for Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance is that it's really short, clocking in at about an hour. They could have put in "Born To Act" (which I think would fit in the Peacetime/Dance theme), but instead whoever designed the track listing only put that track on the expanded vinyl edition. Of course, diehard fans will want to get the 4 disc vinyl for the complete picture.
I've already pre-order the Autographed Amazon Exclusive. I recommend ordering the CD or vinyl on Amazon because you're also given the digital tracks, so you can listen to the record while you wait for the product to arrive at your home.
Belle & Sebastian's Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance is out commercially tomorrow, January 20th, via Matador Records.
Just to give you a little background on the band, they formed in the mid-90s and was one of the few bands that released original singles (songs that never made their way to an LP). I got into Belle & Sebastian a little late to the party with Lazy Line Painter Jane EP (1997), from an old MiniDisc mixtape, but what I heard, absolutely loved. I've mentioned it before, but back then, I've always thought they were a duo with a girl/boy singers. It wasn't until 1998's The Boy with the Arab Strap did I realize that it's a group (but then again, the band was quite secretive in the early days).
Anyway, while the lineup changed over time (losing bassist Stuart David and sugar sweet vocalist Isobel Campbell), the core of the band is really around singer and band leader Stuart Murdoch. Murdoch, in an interview about why the band took a hiatus post-2007, basically said that the record label (Jeepster) told them that the band could not grow their audience. They were forever going to be a 'cult' band and could not cross over to the mainstream. If you saw Murdoch's film God Help the Girl (2014), you know that the underlying message in that film is that it doesn't matter if you're going to be a massive hit... that they were just as happy writing music that they love.
That's the impression I got listening to their new album Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance. Belle & Sebastian are writing wonderful little songs that doesn't exactly fit into pop radio. For example, my favorite track, "Enter Sylvia Plath": lyrically a depressing song ("All the dreams, and guilt and loneliness, loneliness") but set to a disco-ish beat. They are comfortable writing songs for themselves, and they wouldn't change their music just to appeal to the masses.
One of the biggest criticism that I had for Belle & Sebastian was sometime they were a little too Christian (take "Jonathan David", "Act of the Apostle" - parts 1 and 2, "Take Your Carriage Clock and Shove It", and "Little Lou, Ugly Jack, Prophet John" for example). To be fair, Murdoch, for a time, lived in a Church and I know he's passionate about his religion... but I never understood or liked it. I'm happy to report that I didn't really detect any hints of religion in Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance.
As Murdoch once put it, they are "the republic of Belle & Sebastian", which meant that he doesn't write or sing on all the songs. Which I think is refreshing, as I do welcome other voices, such as Sarah Martin taking over on "The Power of Three" and "The Book of You" and Stevie Jackson on "Perfect Couples". They add variety to the usual cute orchestral pop songs that Murdoch tends to write.
Like Write About Love's album featuring a duet with Carey Mulligan on the title track, "Write About Love", we see a similar treatment with "Play for Today", which features Dum Dum Girls' Dee Dee Penny. The song "Play for Today" and "Today (This Army's for Peace)" fits in this theme of the modern age and we should make the most of it with peace, love, and harmony.
My only complaint for Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance is that it's really short, clocking in at about an hour. They could have put in "Born To Act" (which I think would fit in the Peacetime/Dance theme), but instead whoever designed the track listing only put that track on the expanded vinyl edition. Of course, diehard fans will want to get the 4 disc vinyl for the complete picture.
I've already pre-order the Autographed Amazon Exclusive. I recommend ordering the CD or vinyl on Amazon because you're also given the digital tracks, so you can listen to the record while you wait for the product to arrive at your home.
Belle & Sebastian's Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance is out commercially tomorrow, January 20th, via Matador Records.
